1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bicycle stand. More particularly, it relates to a collapsible bicycle stand for supporting a bicycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, participating in bicycle racing as a hobby is gaining wide popularity. Therefore, it is the trend to design multi-functional high quality bicycles. In bicycle shops, display stands are used for displaying bicycles for emphasizing their aesthetic appearance. Furthermore, these display stands could be used to perform maintenance works on the bicycles. Many hobby type (specialized) bicycles are no longer provided with self-stands. Bicycle stands can also be used as a temporary parking device when the bicycle is stored.
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 2-78483 discloses a stand of this type for bicycle maintenance as illustrated in FIG. 12. A pair of legs 80 are pivotally connected to each other at the middle portions thereof, and are closed when the stand is not in use. Therefore, the stand can be stored in narrow spaces. The pair of legs 80 are opened to form an X-configuration, in order to support a bicycle 90, when the stand is in use. The bicycle 90 is elevated in order to perform maintenance works. Therefore, the legs 80 are relatively long, and do not become more compact lengthwise. Consequently, it is inconvenient to carry the stand even when the legs 80 are closed. Furthermore, when maintenance is performed on the bicycle 90, a fork blade 91 and a crank axle 92 are captured by corresponding top portions of the legs 80. In order to perform maintenance, the front wheel of the bicycle 90 should be removed. Thus, maintenance becomes rather complicated.
To overcome this shortcoming, a bicycle work stand has been proposed, as illustrated in FIG. 13. This work stand has tripod legs 86 which are connected to the lower portion of a post 85. The legs 86 can be folded for easy transport when the stand is not in use. When the stand is in use, the legs 86 are opened to support a down tube of the bicycle by supporting means disposed at the upper end of a post 85. Therefore, this work stand is compact and transportable. Furthermore, the stand permits to support the bicycle without taking its front wheel off for easy mounting.
On the contrary, in the stand described above, the lower end portion of the post 85 is supported by the tripod legs well above the floor level. Therefore, the stand is rather unstable and is not suitable for long term displays.